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[pcgumshoe]

Wayne, some suggestions:

This starting and stopping very much may have to do with memory. Imagine that you have Mix Meister running, then you go to get a new karaoke song for the next singer (less than 10 megs on 196k compression), if Windows determines that what you are doing in Mix Meister is not as important as the data you are tying to access (into memory according to windows) Windows may start to write information to the page file, this type of situation may give you a hiccup in sound or a longer pause.

I would try a couple of things. These would be in order of severity and the further down the list you go, the more involved what you are doing will be:

1. Turn off all the extra bells and whistles associated with Windows XP. Transitions, smoother fonts, rounded windows... All unnecessary crap just to make it look different from the past. TURN THESE THINGS OFF! why would you want to allocate ANY ram to something that won't help your show? You are the only one looking at the screen, what difference does it make that your windows are rounded over the classic square? Nothing!

To turn these things off you need to do a couple of things. First, let's get rid of the pictured background. Right Mouse-Click on any empty space on the desktop. Next select, "PROPERTIES" once you have those open select the Desktop Tab and select "NONE" as your back ground. Maybe pick a color that is not so bright, after all, you want your singers to be in the limelight don't you?\

Next, Click on the Appearance Tab and under "Windows and Buttons" select "Windows Classic Style" Apply & Ok.

Next, click on System Properties from the Control Panel, click on the Advanced Tab then under Performance select Settings button. Check the "ADJUST FOR BEST PERFORMANCE" option, apply & ok.


2. Virtual Memory: As you have over 512 Megs of ram, try disabling the virtual memory. This way windows won't try to write to the HDD you are trying to access from stuff that, for all intents and purposes, should stay in ram. For more information on Virtual Memory See Here

Virtual memory can slow your system down. I would feel more comfortable suggesting this if you had 1gig like gduns recommended (I'm with you gduns!). Also, if you are going to defrag, make sure that you move your virtual memory (if you keep it installed) to the outer rim of the HDD... I don't know if there is a free application or a windows tool that will perform this other than Norton. The outside rim of the HDD is the fastest accessed. I have seen some recommendations to disable the virtual memory prior to defragging as well.

3. Last but not least, try some other memory tricks from this site HERE This information is all about tweaking your memory. I know that when some people hear the word "TWEAK" they get nervous, sometimes Bill over at Microsoft doesn't have your best interests at hand, he is thinking of Bubba down in the swamps who just plays solitaire (No offense to anyone really named Bubba ) While you are on this site, check out the section on Windows Services... Have you ever seen how much unnecessary crap is running that you wouldn't need? Be careful to remember and log what you do so you can undo it. IF you are used to the system restore, set a restore point before you start futzing around.

I just want to give you suggestions that may help you over this hurdle, as I think all of us do. Let us know if this helps.

George: I don't disagree with you, I have just noticed that it is often many days after a post that several people have started to help on that MTU gets around to it... I wasn't saying that they don't, but that just like you and me find a new post that has 10 replies and we want to see what all the hubbub is about.

Oh yeah, and if you think I am longwinded in writing, you should hear me talk!